Tricksters Make This World by wldnst (PG-13)
Title: Tricksters Make This World
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Pairing: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski (with background Erica/Boyd, Allison/Scott)
Categories: Futurefic, Drama, Romance, Casefile sub-plot
Length: Long (26,360 words)
Warnings: n/a
Author on LJ: wldnst
Author Website:
wldnst
Author's Summary:
Stiles comes back to Beacon Hills during the new moon in April.
Review:
Stiles returns to Beacon Hills to finish writing his Master's thesis in folklore. Derek is disconcerted by Stiles, who since he didn't join the pack years ago Derek feels he can't be trusted, regardless of his friendships with everyone else. Meanwhile, a series of young adult books about werewolves becomes an obsession to the whole pack (yay pack book club!); the books are too similar to the reality of werewolf life to be written by someone ignorant of the supernatural (yes, I bet you can guess who the writer was from the set up). Also, an otter shapeshifter runs into Derek at the hardware store and warns Derek of a new and dangerous sea-based monster in the area.
Told in Derek's PoV, I really enjoyed the way Derek's social-interactions make perfect sense to him, but you as the reader can see the fail coming a mile away...such as greeting someone after years of estrangement by walking up to them in the supermarket and commenting on their pork chops freshness, or staring at people until they wake up to answer a question. Derek's trust issues have issues, and even though he doesn't trust Stiles, he can't seem to stay away from him.
I love the pack dynamics in this story, especially the interactions between Erica, Boyd and Isaac. Stiles is also wonderful. He's grown up, come into his own but still is quirky self, and probably sick of Derek's mixed-messages. There's also some hilarious lines, such as "Scott looks confused, but that might just be his face," which made me giggle. The story has funny parts throughout, but is has an overall melancholy feel, with Derek's confusion and lack of self-awareness about his own feelings.
“Why did you come back?” Derek asks.
“My Dad’s here, for one,” Stiles says. “What, you thought because I left I’d never come back? You left Beacon Hills, you came back. People do that, it’s a thing people do. Like how Amish kids go on rumspringa. I did my rumspringa, I decided Beacon Hills was alright, I came back.”
“Stiles,” Derek says.
“Didn’t Boyd tell you?” Stiles asks. “I’m writing my thesis. Cheaper here, less distracting than Berkeley, plus I can spend time with my Dad and the new kid can get to know his uncle Stiles. There’s a whole passel of reasons for me to be here, Derek, and none of them have to do with encroaching on your territory. Which, because I’m not a werewolf, I can’t really do. From what I recall you’re not an unintelligent guy, Derek, so I don’t know why you’re insisting there’s a game afoot here.”
Nothing suggests that he’s lying, although he still doesn’t seem quite right. Derek sighs.
“We need to discuss your relationship with my pack,” he says gruffly. “We at least need a verbal treaty.”
Stiles looks up at him, angles his head and studies Derek’s face, then steps away from the door.
“I shouldn’t be surprised, I guess,” he says, pursing his lips into a small frown that suggests he still is. “But not before breakfast. Come in, then--I’ll put on more bacon. I know you’ll eat it, wolfman. Things haven’t changed that much if you’re still physically accosting me over imagined threats. It’s sort of like I never left.”
Tricksters Make This World (AO3), (LJ, pt.1, pt.2, pt.3)
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Pairing: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski (with background Erica/Boyd, Allison/Scott)
Categories: Futurefic, Drama, Romance, Casefile sub-plot
Length: Long (26,360 words)
Warnings: n/a
Author on LJ: wldnst
Author Website:
wldnst
Author's Summary:
Stiles comes back to Beacon Hills during the new moon in April.
Review:
Stiles returns to Beacon Hills to finish writing his Master's thesis in folklore. Derek is disconcerted by Stiles, who since he didn't join the pack years ago Derek feels he can't be trusted, regardless of his friendships with everyone else. Meanwhile, a series of young adult books about werewolves becomes an obsession to the whole pack (yay pack book club!); the books are too similar to the reality of werewolf life to be written by someone ignorant of the supernatural (yes, I bet you can guess who the writer was from the set up). Also, an otter shapeshifter runs into Derek at the hardware store and warns Derek of a new and dangerous sea-based monster in the area.
Told in Derek's PoV, I really enjoyed the way Derek's social-interactions make perfect sense to him, but you as the reader can see the fail coming a mile away...such as greeting someone after years of estrangement by walking up to them in the supermarket and commenting on their pork chops freshness, or staring at people until they wake up to answer a question. Derek's trust issues have issues, and even though he doesn't trust Stiles, he can't seem to stay away from him.
I love the pack dynamics in this story, especially the interactions between Erica, Boyd and Isaac. Stiles is also wonderful. He's grown up, come into his own but still is quirky self, and probably sick of Derek's mixed-messages. There's also some hilarious lines, such as "Scott looks confused, but that might just be his face," which made me giggle. The story has funny parts throughout, but is has an overall melancholy feel, with Derek's confusion and lack of self-awareness about his own feelings.
“Why did you come back?” Derek asks.
“My Dad’s here, for one,” Stiles says. “What, you thought because I left I’d never come back? You left Beacon Hills, you came back. People do that, it’s a thing people do. Like how Amish kids go on rumspringa. I did my rumspringa, I decided Beacon Hills was alright, I came back.”
“Stiles,” Derek says.
“Didn’t Boyd tell you?” Stiles asks. “I’m writing my thesis. Cheaper here, less distracting than Berkeley, plus I can spend time with my Dad and the new kid can get to know his uncle Stiles. There’s a whole passel of reasons for me to be here, Derek, and none of them have to do with encroaching on your territory. Which, because I’m not a werewolf, I can’t really do. From what I recall you’re not an unintelligent guy, Derek, so I don’t know why you’re insisting there’s a game afoot here.”
Nothing suggests that he’s lying, although he still doesn’t seem quite right. Derek sighs.
“We need to discuss your relationship with my pack,” he says gruffly. “We at least need a verbal treaty.”
Stiles looks up at him, angles his head and studies Derek’s face, then steps away from the door.
“I shouldn’t be surprised, I guess,” he says, pursing his lips into a small frown that suggests he still is. “But not before breakfast. Come in, then--I’ll put on more bacon. I know you’ll eat it, wolfman. Things haven’t changed that much if you’re still physically accosting me over imagined threats. It’s sort of like I never left.”
Tricksters Make This World (AO3), (LJ, pt.1, pt.2, pt.3)